Morneau returns to first base (hopefully)..

The light-hitting AAA Rochester Red Wings are about to get yet another burst of fallen major league talent, as Chris Parmalee is expected to be sent down in order to make room for Justin Morneau, who will be the Twins primarly first baseman upon his return from the disabled list.

After getting shut out by grizzled veteran, Derek Lowe, while using a lineup that featured rookie Brian Dozier as the No. 5 hitter, the Twins hope to finally start getting its offense in-sync, crippled by a lack of production at third base, first base and right field.

It would seem, hopefully, that concussion-like symptoms are behind Morneau and perhaps a stint on the DL may have helped to strengthen his ailing left wrist. At any rate, both he and the team seem to realize that even a one-handed Morneau has to be better than what they’ve seen at first base. Parmalee had seen his average dip to .179 with no homers and three RBI’s over 84 at-bats, after skipping over AAA to get to the big leagues.

Now, Rochester features former Twins, Ben Revere, Clete Thomas, Danny Valencia, Sean Burroughs and Parmalee, in addition to pitcher, Matt Maloney. First-year Rochester hitting coach, Tom Brunansky, certainly has his hands cut out for him on a team that features no players with more than two home runs on the season. Expect whomever can get hot for at least a week to be rushed back to the big league ASAP.

With Valencia playing every day at third base, Sean Burroughs has seen time everyday at both first base and second base. Burroughs was sent down to get everyday at bats, but now, ironically, the two players who were preventing him from getting at-bats have been sent down as well, further blocking his way. While hitting a respectable 7-for-21 (.333 BA), don’t be surprised to see him back in the big leagues before Valencia or Parmalee. 

Parmalee’s demotion will likely come at the expense of Rochester’s 32-year-old veteran infielder, Joe Thurston, puttering along with a .139 average at the end of a twelve year minor league career. Expect to see him in a coach's role at some level shortly.

Morneau at first also moves Ryan Doumit to full-time DH, which was the original plan to start the season. Now, the team needs to figure out a way to get some production out of right field or third base. Trevor Plouffe has been shuffled all over the field, but it has become apparent that the multiple gloves are affecting his offense, much as it did Micheal Cuddyer early in his career. Jamey Carroll can play a good third base, but he team simply cannot expect to win with light offense at both third base and right field.

It has been a circus in right field all season, where an already long list of Plouffe, Parmalee, Clete Thomas, Ben Revere, Darin Mastroianni and Erik Komatsu have all failed to to play like big league right fielders. It’ll be interesting to see how long the Twins stick with Mastroianni and Komatsu, as both low-power, reserve-type players, in a position that demands high offensive production.